U.S. Supreme Court Gives Ohio The Green Light To Continue Current Maintenance Of Voting Rolls

By JO INGLES •
The nation’s highest court has ruled Ohio can continue to maintain its voter rolls the way it currently is.

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Ohio can keep using a decades-old process to update voter rolls. Ohio voters who don’t cast ballots for two years are sent cards to their home mailing address to verify their info. If the card isn’t returned and a voter doesn’t cast a ballot for four more years, the voter is removed from the rolls. The Secretary of State’s office says that prevents duplicate registration and takes deceased voters off the rolls.

But advocates for homeless Ohioans sued, saying the process strips them of their right to vote. They contend the process unfairly removes low-income people and minorities. They note that in 2015 alone, more than 40,000 Cuyahoga County residents were removed from the rolls through this process.